Deck List of the Week: Paladin Control

I’m not sure when it happened exactly, but at some point, I became a control player in Hearthstone. Playing aggressively always felt like a mad dash to the finish line, where my deck would either make it or stall out, but control feels .. well, more controlled. My opponent plays something, I answer with the correct step, and we do this dance until I’ve got card advantage, or a window to win the match. Sure, from time to time I get run over, but a lot of the time I’m able to hit the brakes and slow the game down to a more beneficial pace. When I decided I wanted to have a real go at control, I went with Paladin. The card set features a disgusting amount of utility and can do a lot of very irritating things.

While this deck has yet to win out, it did make it to the top 16 in a ManaGrind tournament a couple of weeks back. I call it ‘The Lonely Shepherd‘, in honor of the stoic Paladin, Uther the Lightbringer.

In the early game, try and get cards such as Knife Juggler, Noble Sacrifice and Argent Protector to mitigate early game pressure from cards like Mana Wyrm, Faerie Dragon and Flame Imp. The most difficult issue with this deck (aside from having the cards to run it) is the first four turns. If you have to take some damage to get control of the board, that’s fine as there’s a good amount of healing available in this deck. Equality can also be used early in conjunction with a 1/1 Paladin token in order take out something problematic, although ideally you’ll want to save it to combo with Consecration.

While it’s not super efficient to play Sword of Justice on turn three, don’t be afraid to do it if there are minions on the board you can finish off with it. Sword of Justice is not a win condition. It’s there to, if left unchecked, apply pressure and force the use of removal cards. If it breaks, but you use it to kill a minion, that’s fine. Your goal with this deck is to get to the late game, and this weapon can help you do that.

In the midgame, don’t force anything. Hold on to Spellbreakers and Argent Peacekeepers in order to disarm potential threats. Hammer of Wrath, while a bit slow, is great for dealing with early to midgame problems and helps you continue cycling towards Ysera and Tirion Fordring. If playing against Mage, Shaman or Priest decks, be aware of what turn it is, and whether or not they’ve used their Polymorphs, Hexes or Mind Controls. Always look to make value trades and have a larger hand than your opponent.

Argent Commander’s too good NOT to be in your deck.

Chillwind Yeti, Azure Drake and Earthen Ring Farseer can be thrown down on the board for presence, but always consider a token first, unless you’ve got your opponent fully locked down. Argent Commander should be saved for a circumstance where you can make a good trade, unless it’s time to put the finishing touches on your foe.

In the later stages of the match, when removal spells are exhausted, you have control and fatigue looms on the horizon, toss down Ysera and Tirion and go for the throat. Against better decks, expect to sideboard in Big Game Hunter to deal with Ragnaros, and sideboard more weapon removal when dealing with Paladin mirror matches or Warrior decks. Otherwise, sit back, relax, and enjoy infuriating whoever you’re playing against.